Decobalting aldehydic acid ester oxo reaction mixtures using oxalic acid at reflux temperatures and atmospheric pressure

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING DIFUNCTIONAL OXYGENATED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS WHICH COMPRISES CONTACTING C1-C7 ALKYL ESTERS OF UNSATURATED MONOCARBOXYLIC ACIDS DISSOLVED IN A LOWER BOILING AROMATIC HYDROCARBON SOLVENT WITH 0.1 TO 1.0 WT. PERCENT BASED ON THE ESTER FEED OF A COBALT CARBONYLATION CATALYST AND A SYNTHESIS GAS HAVING A RATIO OF HYDROGEN TO CARBON MONOXIDE OF APPROXIMATELY 1.0 UNDER A PRESSURE OF FROM 1000 TO 1500 P.S.I.G., AND AT A TEMPERATURE OF APPROXIMATELY 100* C., THEREBY FORMING ALDEHYDIC ESTERS CONTAINING ONE MORE CARBON ATOM THAN THE ESTER FEE, DECOBALTING THE ALDEHYDRIC ESTER PRODUCT BY REFLUXING THE RESULTANT OXO PRODUCT SOLUTION AT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE WITH AN AMOUNT OF SOLID OXALIC ACID AT LEAST EQUIVALENT TO THE COBALT PRESENT AND SEPARATING THE RESULTANT SOLIDS FROM THE SOLUTION.